Cumbersome regulatory framework and constraints in transmission of power have hampered the growth of power sector in the country stated Principal Secretary, Energy and Principal Secretary to the Chhattisgarh Chief Minister, Aman Kumar Singh here on Tuesday.
“Despite being a power surplus State, Chhattisgarh is not able to provide power to power deficit States. The regulatory framework needs to be more facilitating and the transmission infrastructure between States should be strengthened for this,” he said while delivering his address at a conference titled ‘Power Sector: Destination Chhattisgarh’ organized by ASSOCHAM here on Tuesday.
Singh said that power being a concurrent subject there are instances of dispute between the State and Central Government. There are a plethora of rules that often stifle the State initiatives.
There are occasions when necessary permission could not be obtained for inter-State transmission which could have taken care of the problems of power deficient regions of the country, added Singh.
“For energy co-operation between various regions we need a more favourable regulatory framework’’, he said.
The new Government at the Centre has to have a fresh look at the subject. There is a need for paradigm shift in the policy,” said Singh.
Explaining the shift in consumer portfolio of the State, Singh said that in 2003 the high tension (HT) consumption was 70% while low tension (lT) consumption was 30%. But at present the lT has grown to 55% while HT has reduced to 45%. This is due to universalization of power distribution, said Singh.
However, due to larger distribution network, the problem of tackling distribution losses have magnified. The State Government has given financial assistance to the Discoms in meeting the losses and only 15% hike has been done in power tariff which is still comparatively lower than many other States. He said that the new State Telangana is keen on purchasing power from Chhattisgarh.
MlA Shrichand Sundarani said that Chhattisgarh was much behind at the time of its inception in terms of power generation. It has made proper use of its resources through proper planning and become a power surplus State.
Earlier member of managing committee of ASSOCHAM Amitabh Mudgal welcomed the guests. PS Athavale proposed a vote of thanks.
The inaugural session was followed by business sessions in which discussions on policy and regulatory landscape, IT applications were held.
It was mentioned in the conference that as per study made by Power Finance Corporation ltd, the State has a potential of 61,000 MW of additional thermal power in terms of availability of coal of more than 100 years and more than 2500 MW hydel capacity.
Moreover, of the 88,537 MW of capacity planned in the 12th plan, 18 projects are located in Chhattisgarh, with a total of 12840 MW, which are all coal based —the highest across States.